1,708 Shares in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Purchased by Power Corp of Canada

Posted by on Mar 16th, 2023

Power Corp of Canada purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,708 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. bought a new position in Ecolab during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 1,406.3% during the 2nd quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 241 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 267 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Old North State Trust LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price target on Ecolab from $158.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 12th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Ecolab in a report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ecolab from $175.00 to $180.00 in a report on Friday, December 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on Ecolab from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Ecolab from $140.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.13.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $159.23 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $155.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $152.04. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $131.04 and a one year high of $185.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market cap of $45.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.98.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.02. Ecolab had a return on equity of 18.02% and a net margin of 7.69%. The company had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 21st will be issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 20th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 4,404 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.95, for a total value of $717,631.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,027,423.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Company Profile

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Ecolab, Inc engages in the provision of products and services in the field of water, hygiene, and energy. It operates through the following segments: Global Industrial, Global Institutional & Specialty, Global Energy & Life Science, and Other. The Global Industrial segment consists of the water, food and beverage, paper, and downstream operating segments.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Ecolab (NYSE:ECL)

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